Toy figure



K. H. ROGERS.

TOY FIGURE.

APPLICATION F1LEDJAN.10.|920.

Patented. Mar'. M, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

K. H. ROGERS.

TOY FIGURE.

APPLICATION FILED Mn. lo, 1920.

1,409,41 1 Patented M211'. 14, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 j'i/PL HROGERS.

i Mw

KARL H. ROGERS, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TOY FIGURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

Application filed January 10, 1920. Serial No. 350,496.

To all Illi/'10m t may concern:

Beit known t-hat I, KARL H. ROGERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia .and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Figures, of which the followi cation.

My invention is a figure in the form of a doll, monkey, or other animal, snake, spider, insect or other appropriate figure, which can be used as a toy, advertising medium or other use, constructed on a foundation of pliable wire, which has strength and rigidity and which alone with its padding and costume forms the arms,hands, legs, neck, head and abdomen of the figure and permits all of these parts to be bent and twisted into any desired attitude or position. These attitudes may be such as running, walking or sitting and all positions which are natural to the figure and also into positions which are grotesque and amusing which only a contortionist can take. There is sufficient rigidity in the wire to permit the figure to maintain an upright position,l to stand alone and to hold and maintain any position into which its parts are bent until they are bent back to its original'or a new position. The hands can be bent about other objects, such as a cane, a trapeze, or a. rope so that they will securely grasp and hold the object until released by being bent again.

The wire is of a strong and tough metal so that it will bear much bending and twisting without breaking. It has no spring or reiex and will for this reason hold any position into which it is bent for an indefinite period and until re-bent. It has been found that the ordinary insulated copper wire generally used for electrical purposes proves an excellent wire for the construction of these figures. It` has the necessary toughness, strength and rigidity and yet suflicient pliability to allow of easy bending. It receives additional strength and reinforcement from the close insulation which it carries and which forms the foundation of the padding or wrapping which is added to give the necessary form to the figure. I do not limit myself to any kind of wire however, either wrapped or unwrapped, insulated or uninsulated, orconstructed of any particular kind'of metal. It may vprove advisable to use copper wire without insulation and then add the padding by means of glue or other Toy g is a specifior a different manner or tration the drawings adhesive substance or wrapped in the same not wrapped at all. For gures in differentl forms another kind of wire having the necessary properties of strength, pliability and rigidity may prove more efficient in the toy or more economical in t-he making.

My invention is an improvement over all similar' figures, used as toys, etc., in that it has produced a figure or a toy which is Hexible and pliable throughout without loss of the rigidity necessary to make it hold any desired position and which is constructed entirely Without the use of joints or fiexible connections. These joints are the points of early breakage in the toys now manufactured and such weak points and the possibility of breakage at joints is eliminated by my invention.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the general construction'of the figure. I do not confine myself to a figure or toy of one shape, size or design since the construction which I have devised can be used in figures and toys of innumerable and unlimited design. It would seem to be of especial use in figure toys such as dolls, clowns, monkeys, animals, insects and other dressed figures. also be used as advertising mediums, window displays, models for childrens clothing and other purposes where a iigure is desired which will attract attention by reason of its unusual positions. For purposes of illusrepresent a figure in human form and dressed as a clown. Any variety of dress can be used upon the figures and in the matter of form, dress, size, design and structural details, I do not confine myself to the selections which I have used as illustrations. Fig. l shows the basic construction or skeleton of one of the figures in human form. Figure 2 shows the vwire which forms the hand bent so that it will grasp and securely hold an object such as a cane. This is also illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8. Figure 3 represents the manner in which the wire may be wound. Figure 4 shows a skeleton view of the figure with all its parts bent to illustrate a position which the figure can be made to take and rigidly hold. Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 show the figure in the dress of a clown twisted and bent into a number of positions. No. 1 is a single piece of insulated heavy copper Wire or other wire having the necessary qualities of strength, pliability andI It could rigidity without spring or reex, of the required length. This wire forms the legs, abdomen, neck and head of the figure. The wire is run through two parallel holes in block No. 3 and two similar parallel holes in block No. 2. Its ends No. 8, form the legs and the extremities form the ankles and to these are fastened by some appropriate means the feet, No. 9, which are constructed of wood or other suitable material, or which may be the wire ends alone. I Blocks 2 and 3 are of wood or other suitable material, of rectangular construction and are placed at the point of the shoulders and hips. Their use is to hold the wires which pass tightly through them or are fastened to them in some appropriate manner and to'give form to the figure. In the figure of an animal or an insect their shape would be changed to become adaped to the shape of the particular figure. No. 9 represents the feet, No. 8, the legs,-No. 7 the abdomen,-No. 4 the neck and No. 10 the head. Upon the wire No. 10 a head is made by windings or paddings or is fastened in some appropriate manner and on the front of this, a face is made in some usual manner of embroidery, paint or print, etc., the loop being found a convenient shape for att-aching a head and face, but not a necessary construction. The wire at this v point No. 10 can be of any form or shape adapted to holding the head and face designed.

No. 5 represents the arms which. are formed of a second piece of wire of the same or similar construction securely fastened by any appropriate means to the shoulder block No. 3 so that either arm may be moved without affecting the position of the other arm. The extremities of this wire at No. 6 are the hands of the figure which extend beyond the sleeve of the dress. These can be bent into the form of a hook or circle or left straight `as desired. This hand may be bent around any object such as a cane, a rope, a bar, a trapeze or other small object which it will grip and securely hold until its grip is broken by again bending the wire hand.

In Fig. 3 No. 11 is-the wire, No. l2 is a winding or covering adhering closely to the Wire such as electrical insulation which forms a basis upon which other covering can be securely Wrapped and held and No. 13

. is any number of wrappings of suitable fabric to give the desired form and size to the limb or other part and the required bulk to the figure. I do not confine myself to any particular manner 0f padding or wrapping or of adding to the wire whatever is necessary to give it form. This can be done by various methods and with any material which provesitself to be practicable. The wire, No. 11, can be any met-al wire which is tough, strong and pliable, without spring or reflex and with sufficient rigidity to hold any position into which it is bent or twisted.

do not confine myself to any single way of attaching the wire, constructing` its sections or placin the blocks. For a figure such as a gira e or aspider it is apparent that the wire would be fastened and run in a manner different from that employed in the human figure here illustrated. Also in the human figure, wire No. l, for instance could be run through block 2 and fastened to the bottom of block 3. The arm wire, No. 5 could be run through a diagonal hole in block 3 in an upward directlon, continue with the loop No. 10 for the head and then through another diagonal hole in block 3 and terminate in the opposite arm and hand. In some cases block 2 could be entirely omitted. This invention is not confined to structural details as shown by the drawings but the details of construction here used as illustration, are selected toshow the fundamental 4construction, which is the invention and which accomplishes the novel results attained. The details and form here shown have been found to be one of the strongest and most practical and for that reason have been selected for illustration.

It is submitted that the novelty of the construction of my invention can be best observed by the examination of a model and I beg permission to submit and file in the Patent Office a model of the gure substantially as is described above.

I claim;

A toy figure comprising in the construction of the skeleton thereof, a flexible, pliable, non-elastic wire bent at the middle to make a loop which forms the head, a block near the loop to form the shoulders, a block spaced from the shoulder block to form the hips, the extension of the said wire being attached to the said shoulder and'hip block at a spaced distance to form the body and extending therefrom so that the extremities of the wire form the legs and feet and a section of similar wire attached to the shoulder block and extending transversely to the shoulder block to form the arms and at the extremities the hands of the figure.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

KARL II. ROGERS.

Witnesses:

ANNA V. HUGHES, ROBERT E. LONG. 

